What can go wrong.

We are not a bank

Balboa Exchange is a digital-asset desk. We do not take deposits, we do not hold a banking licence, and we are not supervised as a bank by the Superintendency of Banks of Panama.

Assets we or our partners hold for you are not protected by any deposit-insurance or investor-compensation scheme, in Panama or anywhere else. If we or a partner fails, you are an unsecured creditor and you may not recover your assets.

Regulatory status

The Republic of Panama does not currently operate a dedicated licensing regime for digital-asset intermediation. Our activity is nonetheless subject to Panamanian anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing law, and we apply the identity-verification, screening, monitoring, record-keeping and reporting duties it imposes.

The absence of a dedicated regime means you do not have the protections that regulated banking or securities activity would carry: no supervisory conduct regime, no compensation scheme, and no statutory complaints ombudsman.

Digital-asset market risk

The price of bitcoin and other digital assets is highly volatile. It can move sharply in minutes, at any hour, on any day, and it can fall to zero. You may lose the entire value of what you commit, and you should not commit more than you can afford to lose in full.

Past performance says nothing about future performance. Liquidity can disappear in stressed markets, widening spreads and making it impossible to transact at a price you would accept.

Transactions are irreversible

A digital-asset transfer, once confirmed on its network, cannot be recalled, cancelled or reversed by us, by you, or by anyone. There is no chargeback.

If you give a wrong address, select the wrong network, or omit a required memo or reference, the assets are likely to be permanently lost. Check every instruction before you confirm it.

Custody and counterparty risk

Assets are held with third-party custodians and execution partners. You are exposed to their solvency, their security, their operational competence, and to any legal or regulatory action taken against them.

A custodian may be hacked, may suffer internal fraud, may lose keys, may become insolvent, or may be ordered to freeze assets. Any of these can result in delay or in permanent loss, and our ability to recover on your behalf may be limited or nil.

Network and technology risk

Blockchain networks can congest, raising fees and delaying confirmation. They can fork, producing competing chains and uncertainty about what you hold. They can suffer consensus failures or attacks.

Software (ours, our partners', and the networks') can contain defects. Systems can go down, including at the moment you most want to transact. We do not guarantee availability.

How we price, and our interest in it

We generally deal as principal, not as your agent. When you buy from us we sell to you from our own book or source the other side; our compensation is the spread between the price we quote and the price at which we source or place it. Our interest in that spread is not aligned with yours.

Indicative prices are not offers. A firm quote binds us only within its stated expiry window. Between your request and your confirmation the market can move against you, and the quote you accept may be worse than the one you first saw.

Conflicts of interest

We may hold positions in the assets we quote, transact for our own account, and act for other clients whose interests differ from yours. We may receive fees, commissions or referral payments from custody, execution, liquidity, or banking partners we work with.

We manage these conflicts through our internal policies, and we disclose them here so you can weigh them. Ask the desk if you want to know how we are compensated on a particular transaction.

No advice, no suitability assessment

We do not give investment, legal, tax or accounting advice, and we make no personal recommendation. Nothing we publish or say is an inducement to transact.

We do not assess whether a transaction is suitable or appropriate for you. That judgement is yours, and you should take independent professional advice before you make it.

Tax

Buying, selling, swapping or spending digital assets may have tax consequences. Treatment depends on your residence and circumstances and it changes.

Reporting and paying what you owe is your responsibility. We do not provide tax advice and we do not file on your behalf.

Verification, sanctions and reporting

We are required to verify who you are, to understand your source of funds, to screen you against sanctions and politically-exposed-person lists, and to monitor activity on your account.

We may be required to report activity to the Financial Analysis Unit or another authority, and to freeze assets or refuse an instruction. Where the law prohibits us from telling you that we have done so, we will not tell you.

Forward-looking statements

Anything we say about future services, timelines or market conditions reflects our present expectation. It is not a promise, and circumstances may change it.

Availability by jurisdiction

Our services are not offered where offering them would breach local law, and this website is not directed at any person in such a jurisdiction. You are responsible for knowing whether you may lawfully use the service where you are, and for any local filing or tax obligation that follows.

Questions: contact@balboax.com.